Asia shares slip as China data underwhelms

Asian shares slipped on Monday as a mixed bag of Chinese economic data were not as bad as some feared, but still fanned market impatience with the lack of major fiscal stimulus from Beijing.

China reported economic growth of 0.8% in the second quarter, above the 0.5% forecasted, while the annual pace slowed more than expected to 6.3%.

Industrial output topped forecasts with a rise of 4.4%, while retail sales missed by a tick at 3.1%. That followed figures out over the weekend showed China’s new home prices were unchanged in June, the weakest result this year.

“The data suggests that China’s post-COVID boom is clearly over. The higher-frequency indicators are up from May’s numbers, but still paint a picture of a bleak and faltering recovery and at the same time youth unemployment is hitting record highs,” said CBA economist Carol Kong.

“Markets have already adjusted lower their expectations (for stimulus), and our base case is that there won’t be a substantial package.”

Chinese blue chips (.CSI300) were down 1.0%, while the yuan was a fraction lower . MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) fell 0.2%, though that follows a 5.6% rally last week.

Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) was closed for a holiday, though futures were trading 0.3% lower.

EUROSTOXX 50 futures and FTSE futures both slipped 0.5%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were both off 0.1%, but that followed hefty gains last week.

This report’s information was first seen on REUTERS; to read more, click this link.